Daring 2 Days with Danish Braids in my mom's kitchen

I haven't done a Daring Baker's challenge in a ridiculous amount of time. I've been a bad baker, I know. But all of the last few have been recipes from cookbooks I own that I've already done in the past. This time however, no excuses allowed. The event was being hosted by two of my very favoritest people in food blogdom and there was no way I wasn't going to suck it up and contribute. The recipe is long so I posted it in a previous post to this one for posterity's sake.



My mom loves mango so I decided to fill one with a mascarpone cream topped with thin mango slices then pineapple slices and then sprinkled with some Ceylon cinnamon. The other was a chocolate cream cheese mixture topped with morelo cherries and some more Ceylon cinnamon. The recipes for the mascarpone/ cream cheese mixtures were adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion and are at the end of the post.



For the record, no wine bottles were actually harmed in this baking experience...my mom doesn't own a rolling pin. I know!! What kind of civilized human being doesn't own a rolling pin?! And more importantly~ I'm related to this person?!? May need to start digging for those adoption papers...



I highly recommend measuring, measuring everything, measuring again. From figuring out the one-third middle to fill to where you should cut the braids. I never got my dough to roll out as big as the measurements in the recipe said it should. I came up short. But I worked with what I had and it seemed to turn out fine.



I decided to get fancy and curve one of the braids. This is what it looked liked before proofing. I'm not showing you what it looked like after cause it's ugly, needed to be baked in a different pan, and still tasted good so I'm in denial. Just don't curve your braid and expect a pretty picture, ok? After 2 hours these guys got HUGE. I was a little worried but shouldn't have been. Have faith {cue George Michaels}




I didn't brush mine with eggs, I didn't want to waste any good eggs on wash. Wash is for sissies. I drizzled Agave Nectar over them before rising and then just kept brushing it as they rose. I personally like the crispy sugary crust it creates for the outside. I wish I had also sprinkled some raw sugar over them before baking for a little more texture to the outside flaky dough. Next time...



Mango- Pineapple Mascarpone Filling
made enough to fill one braid with some leftovers

1/2 Mango, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 Pineapple, quartered and sliced
8 oz. Mascarpone
2 T softened Butter
1/4 cup Turbinado Sugar
1/8 t Salt
1 t Vanilla extract
2 T AP Flour
1 large Egg
Ceylon Cinnamon

In mixer bowl, beat together over low speed the mascarpone, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Scrape down sides and bring up to medium speed to get a fluffy texture with ingredients fully incorporated. Add flour and egg, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl thoroughly.

Spread the mixture evenly over the middle third of the braid then top first with thinly sliced mango and finally pineapple slices. Generously sprinkle entire middle third with Ceylon cinnamon.




Cherry Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling
made enough to fill one braid with some leftovers

1 cup Moreno Cherries, removed from juice and dried well on paper towel
8 oz. Cream Cheese
2 T softened Butter
1/4 cup Turbinado Sugar
1/8 t Salt
1 t Vanilla extract
2 T Cocoa Powder
1 large Egg
Ceylon Cinnamon

In mixer bowl, beat together over low speed the cream cheese, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Scrape down sides and bring up to medium speed to get a fluffy texture with ingredients fully incorporated. Add cocoa powder and egg, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl thoroughly.

Spread the mixture evenly over the middle third of the braid then top with the cherries. Generously sprinkle entire middle third with Ceylon cinnamon.

Coming Clean

These turned out incredibly well and I think that once you have the feel for the process it goes much quicker and smoothly. It has been a crazy long time since I've made laminated dough so I found myself constantly going over the directions and reminding myself where I was in the process. It probably would have been a little easier in my own kitchen as well, since I felt a little out of sorts using my mom's kitchen and tools. But if I can pull this off anyone can, honestly... We really enjoyed the filling and the mango/ pineapple combination is a new favorite for me now. Be sure to check out the rest of the Daring Bakers for some much more inventive fillings and I'm sure we'll be wowed by their incredible creativity. And many thanks to the 2 cool for school hosts~ you guys are the best!